An 8-year-old boy was killed and his 10-year-old brother was injured when an impatient and reckless pickup truck driver swerved around another car at a green light and slammed into the young victims in a Queens crosswalk on Wednesday, according to police and witnesses.
The boys and their mother were crossing 100th St. at 31st Ave. in East Elmhurst in the crosswalk around 4:15 p.m., NYPD Chief of Transportation Philip Rivera said at a news conference Wednesday evening.
At the same time, the 52-year-old driver of a Nissan Titan truck was waiting to make a left turn onto 100th St. at a red light, according to the occupants of the car that was waiting just ahead of them.
When the light turned green, the truck driver went over the double yellow line and around driver Joel Villacis, who was first in line at the light.
“The light turned green, [and] he wouldn’t wait,” Villacis, 54 told the Daily News. “He crossed over the yellow line, he turned and hit the people.”
The man’s passenger, Tito Ramirez, watched in horror as the crash unfolded.
“He just went over and hit the little boys,” said Ramirez, 69. “The mother was screaming, she went crazy. He was on the ground with a lot of blood coming out of his head.”
Rivera said the driver made the turn much “too quickly.”
The driver narrowly missed the 37-year-old mother.
“I heard the lady screaming,” said Yazmin Ortiz, who lives on the corner. “The younger boy was lying down in the street. He was bleeding from his head, from both ears, all over the street.”
The 38-year-old witness, recognizing the family as neighbors on the block, said she sat the older brother down.
“[The older boy] had been hit, and he was in shock,” Ortiz told the Daily News. “I told the mom, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK.'”
Ortiz cradled the older boy as his mother screamed, according to Ramirez.
“He was dead,” he said of the younger boy. “There was nothing we could do. I still remember his glasses lying in the street.”
“It was terrible,” the man added. “Terrible.”
Medics pronounced the 8-year-old dead at the scene. His older brother was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens to be treated for an injured wrist.
The driver stayed at the scene and was the first 911 caller, Rivera said. He was immediately taken into custody and charges against him are pending.
“Because of this poor decision, a family trying to enjoy a beautiful day will never be the same,” Rivera said.
Ortiz recalled watching the boys head to school.
“They were always happy,” she said. “They always said good morning. I’m in shock. My heart hurts for them.”
The intersection has not been the site of a crash in at least the past two years, Rivera added.
“Any intersection can be dangerous when drivers are not paying attention and making turns too quickly,” the chief said.
